Friday, November 4, 2016

Fashion in a New York Minute - Project Runway Recap

Today I'll be working on my cards in the early morning and then switching to try and catch up on my emails. I've started a folder for the addresses for this year's Holiday Card mailing so don't forget to message me with your address if you want a card. The quantities are limited and it's turning out to be really cute (if once again, labor intensive *sigh*). The rest of this post is all Project Runway, so if you don't want spoilers, stop reading now.

Yesterday was Project Runway day and I don't let little things like life get in the way of my weekly fashion dose. When DH texted me in the afternoon asking to go back to the home improvement store for more capstones after I got home from work, I said, "Sure, as long as I'm home by the time Project Runway starts." Yes, I do love my angst, and there was plenty of it this week.

Three teams of three were decided by Tim Gunn and the dreadedButton Bag. Best friends Jenny and Nathalia were teamed, as werebest friends Erin and Dexter. I think it's always hard to be a thirdwheel between besties, so Cornelius and Mah-Jing had theirwork cut out for them.

This week was the Sally Hansen sponsored week and they had arranged for a storefront pop-up in SoHo where the three different collections would be displayed for the general New York public to vote on. That was fun - New York residents are serious about their fashion. The winner of the public vote would have a 20% lead going into the final judging by Heidi, Zak Posen, Nina Garcia, and this week's guest judge, Kelly Osbourne.

The teams were color based - Team Blues, Team Red/Magenta and Team Neutrals. After a 30 minute design period and 30 minutes shopping at Mood (with a $600 budget per team) the catfight was off and running.

Team Blues featured Laurence, Rik and Roberi and their outfits aboveare in that order. Laurence did a leather tuxedo jacket, Rik a veryclassic coat and sweet dress, and Roberi a textured pullover witha multi-level skirt.

Team Blue was Roberi, Rik and Laurence. They ended up with very distinct outfits where each designer made their own, but they were designed to work together as total mix and match separates. It worked really well with a dusky blue and a blue plaid broken up with white and black neutrals. There were some design conversations, but generally the team worked really well together.

Team Neutrals featured Jenny, Nathalia and Mah-Jing. They chose abeige fabric with accents of burnt orange for the fall paletterequested by Sally Hansen. I really liked Jenny's look of the popcornembellished dark top with those great large pants of Nathalia (far leftoutfit). All three outfits were nice, though. They won the People's Choiceand were declared "safe".

Team Neutrals pitted besties Jenny and Nathalia against Mah-Jing. They didn't design together before shopping for fabric, and afterward the girls were always making decisions by themselves, rarely pulling Mah-Jing into their discussions. After a scathing technique of "It's not chic and cool - it's just blah," by Tim Gunn, they pulled themselves together and amped up the collection to supply something visually more interesting. Team Neutral won the People's Choice, but not the Judge's Choice. So in essence, they came in second of the three and were safe. I wonder if they would have been on the bottom without the People's Choice 20% push.

Team Red had Erin, Dexter and Cornelius together. Cornelius chosea great plaid, the other two went for straight reds at Mood. Timconvinced the team to mix and match more, so Cornelius' suit waspulled apart to be paired with Erin's coat and Cornelius had todesign a new skirt at the drop of a hat. A pleated one! Oy! Not thething to do with no time.

Team Red was Erin, Dexter and Cornelius, pitting besties Erin and Dexter against Cornelius who was determined to do whatever was necessary to not be in the bottom again. So he sewed and constructed and critiqued "It's a LOT of red, don't you think we should tone down a bit?" while Erin and Dexter designed and ignored him. Of course Erin did a large coat, but it was interesting fabric. Dexter wanted something edgy so the middle outfit is his. Cornelius ended up getting his outfit divided into two with the plaid jacket on its own and the skirt moving to Erin's coat. He had to make a very quick skirt and Erin designed a pleated one for him to make. Pleats in that short of a time span don't go together easily but Cornelius tried his best to make it happen.

Because of the public vote win for Team Neutral, they were safe. That left Teams Red and Blue on the top and the bottom. The cohesiveness and some smart design choices left Team Blue on top and Team Red on the bottom. Roberi, who designed a wacky but interesting plaid and leather two-level skirt was declared the winner. On the other hand, Team Red's besties joined forces and pushed Cornelius under the bus. He was sent home. EXCEPT - Tim Gunn used his save and Cornelius is still in the competition. I adored the fake way that Erin hugged Cornelius as the designers were exiting the green room, and it was obvious that Dexter was furious. No love lost there. Next week should be lots of fun - the personalities and cattiness are now coming out and the claws have now been sharpened.

Happy Friday to all. Don't forget to send those holiday card addresses off to me via private message on LJ or direct email for my readers on other platforms. Enjoy your day!